Report: Rick Perry plans to announce his presidential candidacy in late August

Rumors that the Texas governor would announce in late August have circulated throughout the summer but the RealClearPolitics report is one of first to have specific dates — albeit in a two-week range — attached.

Like most other reports about Perry campaign machinations, they attribute the report to unnamed sources who are familiar with a meeting of Perry donors in Austin last week. At the meeting, the sources said, key players in Perry’s circle suggested late August for his official announcement.

Rick Perry: The time is (almost) now. (AP photo)

That timeline will give Perry a chance to survey the field after the influental Ames Straw Poll. Historically, the Republican presidential field is winnowed after the Iowa straw poll, with past “victims” of the culling including former Vice President Dan Quayle, former Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and former GOP Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole.

Republicans in the state decided Saturday that the Texan would not appear on the Iowa straw poll ballot because he is still an unofficial candidate.

“This is a guy who was focused and intense,” said one supporter who recently talked to the governor.

While most of the Perry people we’ve talked to expect an announcement in the second half of August, we’re told not to completely dismiss the week between the Reliant Stadium event and the Iowa straw poll, when Perry plans prominent political appearances in Alabama and South Carolina.